What A Day - How to Be A Proud American In the Trump Era

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

America’s 250th birthday celebration on the National Mall had everything. Thunderstorms! Heat warnings! Flyovers! President Donald Trump giving a speech well after 11PM Eastern because of those aforementioned thunderstorms that forced attendees to find shelter! A speech where he ranted about… communism. So yeah, it was a strange Fourth of July — which makes sense, because the Trump administration has tried to make it… all about Trump. And as much as Trump wants us to believe otherwise, he doesn’t define what it means to be an American. So to discuss patriotism, the Fourth of July, and where the country goes from here, we spoke with Symone Sanders Townsend, co-host of MS NOW’s “The Weeknight,” and the podcast “Clock It with Symone & Eugene.”And in headlines: Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is accused of sexual assault, he has denied the allegation; Iran mourns the death of its supreme leader; and Trump may or may not have gotten a FIFA red card overturned.Show Notes: Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

We need the hopeful versions of what America can be. Is it bad? Yes. Is it bleak? Absolutely. But there is a way out. And the only way out, as our friend Melissa Murray has told me, is through. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day, the show that's recording on the go.

If the podcast looks and sounds a little different today, we've had a bit of a rush start coming back from the fourth. Turns out our building lost Wi-Fi over the long weekend, but the news stops for nothing and no one. On today's show, we sit down. down with MS Now's Simone Sanders-Townson to unpack America's 250th birthday and what it means to be patriotic in the Trump era. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Monday, July 6th. I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything

that, you know, would be different. rescinded a red card given to one of the U.S. team's most important players this weekend, allegedly after getting some pressure from the White House. Maybe. During the U.S.'s game against Bosnia-Herzegovina, striker Flo Balagan was given a red card for stepping on an opposing player's ankle while going for the ball. A red card meant that not only was Balagan kicked out of the game, but he was also suspended for tonight's game against Belgium. According to the New York Times, Trump called FIFA's president and asked that the governing committee review the play. But according to exclusive reporting from the New York Post, U.S. soccer also threatened the launch legal action against FIFA over allegedly misusing its video assistant referee process.

FIFA's disciplinary committee ultimately rescinded the card. So Balagan will play tonight as FIFA declined a challenge from the Belgian Federation over the reversal. But the U.S. is not alone. UK Prime Minister Kier-Starmar reportedly pressured the organization not to change the time of England's game against Mexico despite bad weather. England won three to two. The Trump administration plans to open a 528 bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children next to an airport hub in Alexandria, Louisiana. The site would speed up deportations by removing logistical headaches caused by wrangling children from foster homes and shelters across the country, and not having anywhere to put them during final preparations for flight. U.S. immigration and customs enforcement is calling the facility a, quote, staging area, not a detention center and says people would only be there a few days at most.

However, several immigration advocates expressed concern that children could be held at the new facility for weeks or months, which has happened at other federal immigration holding sites. As Iran and the U.S. continued to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, people in the Islamic Republic are mourning their late Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hamini. Throngs of mourners flooded into Tehran today for a procession as part of Hamini's funeral. Some call it for the death of President Trump. Homony was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the U.S. Iran's new supreme leader and the son of the late Ayatollah has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. According to an exclusive Politico report, Maine Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman he dated. Jenny Rossico shared the alleged incident with Politico, saying that Platner forced her to have sex with him in 2021.

He allegedly came to her home uninvited and intoxicated and forced himself on to her despite repeated objections. Plattenor denied the allegations. Rassico told Politico, quote, I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself like, this is no longer my choice. She previously told the New York Times, Plattner's behavior was, quote, unsettling. Rassico also said she was torn about coming forward because she agrees with Platner's politics. Here's Platner in a video message posted to social media after the report's publication. So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality, it will inflict. We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love,

the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins. And that's the news. Let's talk about the 4th of July. America's 250th birthday celebration the National Mall had everything. Thunderstorms, heat warnings, flyovers, Trump giving a speech well after 11 p.m. Eastern Time because of those aforementioned thunderstorms that forced attendees to find shelter. speech where he ranted about communism. Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil.

The godless communist morality states that anything is justified to bring about inhuman visions and to really propose what's good. They don't want good. They don't love God. Happy birthday, America. Also, the people who oppose me hate God. So yeah, it was a strange Fourth of July, which makes sense because the Trump administration has tried to make it all about Trump. And yet, I spent this weekend feeling pretty patriotic. See, I truly love this country. And as much as Trump wants us to believe otherwise, it doesn't define what it means to be an American. So to talk more about patriotism, the Fourth of July, and where we go from here, I talk to Simone Sanders Townsend. She's the co-host of MS Now's The Weeknight and the podcast, Clock It with Simone and Eugene. Simone, welcome to what a day. Thank you for having.

me, I'm happy to be here. What a day indeed, okay? What a day. So Trump's much anticipated salute to America 250 seems to have gone as well as his reflecting pool renovation. What were your takeaways from his big Fourth of July celebration that seems to have taken place at like midnight eastern time? I mean, so, you know, I live in Washington, D.C., and I was home while this was happening. And, you know, we were, we were anticipating all of the different fireworks and we were literally taking friendly wagers to see if it was even going to happen Saturday night or if they were going to hold and do it on Sunday because they had so many fireworks. Like usually they're about, I think the number is around 9,000 fireworks. This year, they ordered well over 800,000

fireworks. And so like just the sheer money that they spent of our taxpayer dollars is literally insane. But obviously it kicked off. It went. It happened. I don't believe that there are any accidents. And it is not lost on me that during the shelter in place part of Saturday night where folks had to be evacuated from the Freedom 250, not the America 250. Freedom 250 is the Trump thing. America 250 is bipartisan commission. Trump co-opted and turned it into Freedom 250. It's not lost on me that one of the shelter-in-place locations for folks who had gone down there, many of whom I think would identify as MAGA, was the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Literally, I saw videos and pictures of people sheltered in place on the floor of the main level of the museum.

And all I could think of is that, huh, some of these folks are the same people that believe that America is teaching the history wrong or that we focus to. much on slavery, that, you know, the bad part shouldn't be taught, so on and so forth. And literally, these folks were surrounded by some of the very history that they tried to refute and deny. So, look, I don't, I was not here for the Freedom 250 situation, but I am here for America 250. I'm here for the semi-Quentennial celebration. And I think that, although Trump tried to make it about him, all across the country, we saw examples of the 250th celebration being about the people that have pushed this country forward over history and also how far we have yet to go. So I look a mess is a way to describe what we saw Saturday.

But we should not allow the conversation to be solely just about Donald Trump because frankly, that's what he wants, very authoritarian of him, might I add. We'll get back to my conversation with Simone Sanders Townsend in a moment to talk about a different approach to the 4th of July. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. We talk about mental health more openly now, but asking for help can still feel hard,

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Acorns Advisors, LLC, and SEC registered investment advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com slash watt. Let's get back to my conversation with Simone Sanders Townsend. I'm actually so happy you've said that because it feels as if Trump wants to co-opt the idea of patriotism. He wanted this entire celebration to be about celebrating him, which I will not do. But this entire weekend, I'm not sure about you. I still felt pretty patriotic. I was seeing so many examples across the country of people celebrating what I believe about this country, a nation of immigrants, a nation of people coming together, on behalf of the common good, a nation that wants to improve and do better and has been attempting to do so within fits and starts for 250 years. This is my country as well, in the country of my family and my

ancestors. How are you feeling this weekend, besides obviously hot and dealing with thunderstorms? Yes, I was feeling sad. I had to pull in the furniture off the patio. Look, I think that you can hold two truths at the same time. Am I disappointed in parts of this country, specifically, in some of the discourse that is happening right now, coming directly from the top of the President of the United States, who wants to tell a story of America that is very small, right? Am I disappointed in that? Absolutely.

But am I proud to be an American? Absolutely. I, there is not a place in this world. I would rather have been born than in the United States of America. It's only here that so many of our stories are even possible. And frankly, that is the story of this country. So what I have been thinking about in the lead up to 250 and even, you know, now we're a couple days after, is the unfinished story, if you will, of America. And that America was founded on an idea.

that and you know what, the idea has expanded over the course of our history, but not because, you know, folks thought it was the right thing to do, quote unquote. It's because the people pushed it to be so. In the preamble to the Constitution, you know, we the people in order to form a more perfect union, that we did not include us. Okay, we were not, we weren't on the list. But the we has expanded to include us in so many more people because of the work folks have did, because people pointed out the inconsistency. since he's in this country. So I was thinking a lot about, like, Frederick Douglass and his speech, like, what to the slave is the Fourth of July?

And I was watching a lot of different, you know, everybody had a special, you know, CNN had a special, ABC had a special. There was a special everywhere. Disney had a specials. Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, all the specials. And I don't remember which one I was watching, but they mentioned Frederick Douglas and what to the slave is the 4th of July. And I think that that speech is often remembered

as like a condemnation of America's hypocrisy. And I think it was that. But I also think the reason that the speech was even mentioned, the reason we're even still talking about it, is because Frederick Douglas took America's, you know, own stated ideals seriously. You know, his argument was that, how can you ask enslaved people to celebrate liberty

when they are living proof that America has not extended liberty to everyone. So that speech is about the unfinished work of America and frankly is very applicable today. Yeah, I kept thinking also about Dr. Martin Luther King's idea of the promissory note. We were promised something and we are coming to collect on that promise. We are a part of this nation and we will again prove once and for all that we deserve to be part of the decisions made in this nation. Absolutely. And look, I've been reading a lot of about Reconstruction, actually, which I frankly think we're in another post-reconstruction period in America, because some of the same questions that we were asking during reconstruction,

and then coming out of reconstruction, some of the same questions that America is asking itself right now, like, who gets to belong, who gets to vote, what defines American, so on, and an American, so on and so forth. And when you talk about the promise that Dr. King talked about the struggle that Dr. King fought for was 88 years after Reconstruction had collapsed. Think about it. It took 88 years. That's what the culmination of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was, precursor, Civil Rights Act of 1964. There's 88 years between the collapse of reconstruction and the voting rights act of 1965. First of all, I'm like, I had to do my math a couple times because I'm like, is it only 88? But also 88 is a very long time. And in those 88 years, our country went through so much.

I think we are in another, and what Dr. King was talking about, what he and the other civil rights leaders were fighting for, was frankly, just to get back to where we were during Reconstruction. When there were black men who were elected at every levels of government, when black people did hold positions of power and rank in this country, that's what they were fighting to get back to. I think we're in another period like that, except we don't have another 88 years. And so the kind of questions that we are asking ourselves about who gets to belong. about about what kind of country do we, do we want to be, about who gets to have power in this country and how can the folks that say they want power gain it? And once they get it, what are they going to do with it? I think those questions are fundamentally American questions and questions we need to get

answers to sooner than later because we cannot wait another 88 years. And frankly, the folks who have a very dark vision of this country, they are acting right now. You saw the Patriot Front marching through the streets of Cal. I was like, what is going on? They have a clear vision of who they think this country is for. They're not waiting. They're not writing white papers about what to do. They're not having a bunch of meetings and feces and hypothesizing about, well, what could we do?

They're acting on what they believe their vision is right now. And so I think the counter to that, the pro-democracy coalition, the folks in this country that believe in an expansive version of American democracy, we got to act on it as well. To that point, Trump's speech was not the only one we heard this weekend on July 3rd. New York City Mayor Zrahama Mdani gave his own Independence Day speech. And he focused on the ways in which immigrants and the immigrant experience built this country. He himself is a naturalized citizen.

But given everything we just talked about, and last week's birthright citizenship, Supreme Court decision, speaking of questions, I thought were settled. How did that message strike you? Look, I thought, first of all, I enjoyed the many, different mayors and governors across the country who stood up and gave their own hopeful and frankly truthful, sometimes searing accounts of where America is right now at 250. I loved what Mayor Mamdami did. And I believe Mayor Mamdami was surrounded by recently naturalized citizens, which I just think it's so powerful because that's what this country is about. In America, your citizenship is not

defined by ancestry. And I think there are a lot of people that would disagree with that statement. But the reality of the situation is it's not an America. Citizenship is defined by, like, do you believe in this Constitution? Do you believe in the ideals that were set forth? Like, do you want to work to make a more perfect union? And I love that Mayor Mamdami highlighted that and elevated that. I also liked, I don't know if you saw Governor West Moore did a, did a speech as well. He gave his speech, I believe, on Independence Day that morning. And the contrast with Moore's speech, I thought was so interesting because Governor Moore is a veteran, right? He's a sitting governor, frankly, the only black governor in the United States of America at this time. And he is

speaking from a tradition that says, you know, patriotism requires service. Donald Trump's message is often like, look at what they, whoever they is, have taken from you. And Moore's message on July 4th was, look at what has done. been entrusted to us. And I think that that is a very different civic posture, frankly, similar to what Mayor Mamdami was saying. And we need the hopeful versions of what America can be. Is it bad? Yes. Is it bleak? Absolutely. But there is a way out. And the only way out, as our friend Melissa Murray has told me, is through. And so in order to get through, you've got to have a vision. You have to know where you're going. And I think Mayor Mamdami and Governor Moore and others,

have been laying out various versions of that, of that vision. And frankly, people need that because where there is no hope, that people perish. Simone, thank you so much for joining me. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. It's good to see you. We'll be clocking it, and I'll be tuning in.

That was my conversation with Simone Sanders Townsend, co-host of the podcast, Clock It with Simone and Eugene, and the weeknight on MS Now. Before we go, who among us hasn't made a confusing, morally ambiguous decision? If you said not me, you have nothing in common with a dumpster fire that is the Supreme Court. Strict scrutiny hosts Melissa, Kate, and Leah are here to help break down everything you need to know about last week's incredibly consequential Supreme Court decisions and much, much more.

Watch strict scrutiny on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Let's play, what is Trump even talking about and tell your friends to listen? And if you're into reading, and not just about Trump's musings in the White House Rose Garden. today. The girls are working to work and the young guys are walking to work and the older guys, if they can walk, they walk. Half of them can't walk because they made too much money. A lot of these guys here, they can't walk, but they're rich as hell. Like me, Wadadet is also a nightly newsletter.

Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Kostin Dent. I know you all know this, but this is our president. What Today is a production of C crooked media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Four, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. Quick question.

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